• Funds to target homeowners and business sector
• Hungary's main rate still the highest in EU
• Economic recovery slower than anticipated
• Central bank headed for leadership change in March

BUDAPEST, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The National Bank of Hungary plans to launch green financing programmes for homeowners and companies in January depending on inflation and financial market conditions, it said on Wednesday after the forint sank to its lowest levels since March.

Even after cuts totalling 1,150 basis points, Hungary's 6.5% base rate is still the highest in the European Union, alongside that of neighbouring Romania, following an inflationary surge to levels above 25% after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Faced with a weak recovery from last year's recession, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has called on the NBH to cut rates more sharply, though the veteran leader has toned down his pressure on the bank ahead of an NBH leadership change in March.

"The primary objective of the NBH is to reach and maintain price stability. This still requires a disciplined and tight interest rate policy," the NBH told Reuters in an emailed response to questions.

The bank said its monetary policy stance would also be supported by a tightening of liquidity next year, as large amounts of crisis-management loans issued earlier expire, tightening monetary conditions.

The forint , central Europe's worst-performing currency with a loss of some 4% versus the euro this year, sank to its weakest levels for 6-1/2 months on Wednesday, pressured by an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Falls in the forint forced the NBH into emergency rate hikes in late 2022 to shore up the currency, which Goldman Sachs economists have described as the "binding constraint" on the pace of further rate cuts due to its high volatility.

The NBH said the rate-setting Monetary Council would decide on the parameters and timing of the green corporate bond programme, which would be limited in size and targeted in scope, not affecting the orientation of monetary policy.

The NBH also said it could ease credit conditions for green housing loans that banks can offer to retail clients next year.

Under a previous green housing programme launched in October 2021 and closed a year later, the NBH provided funding worth 299 billion forints ($831.43 million) to commercial banks which they could lend on to retail borrowers at an interest rate of 2.5%.

In power since 2010, the nationalist Orban has struggled to revive Hungary's economy from last year's downturn, taking various moves to shield borrowers from high interest rates, which the NBH has said undermined its independence.

($1 = 359.62 forints)

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https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/hungary-central-bank-launch-green-financing-programmes-2025-2024-10-02/